SF Rec & Park, NPC and Friends of Dolores Park Playground Partner Up for New PlaygroundNew playground to be named after a SF philanthropist Helen Diller

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (RPD) and Neighborhood Parks Council, and Friends of Dolores Park Playground announced today the renovation of the Mission Dolores Park Playground. The schedule calls for construction to begin at the beginning of June 2011, and the estimated completion date is February 2012.

“This is a very exciting milestone, which means we are on the brink of realizing our goal of creating a world-class playground at Dolores Park”, said Nancy Gonzalez Madynski, Chair of the Friends of Dolores Park Playground.

The design for the new playground was developed with extensive input from the community. The playground will have several unique and exciting features, including: a central play mound, that will have an ADA accessible suspension bridge, built-in slide and climbing nets; a custom-made ship wrecked boat; and a 36’ super slide built into the hillside behind the playground.

“This is a perfect example of community advocates, generous individual donors and a city agency coming together to create a state of the art playground.” said Phil Ginsburg, RPD General Manager. “This project underscores our Department’s strong commitment to provide children and families with healthy recreation activities in our parks system.”

The new playground will be named the Helen Diller Playground at Dolores Park in recognition of a $1.5 million donation to the project from the Mercer Fund, a donor-advised fund of the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation. Mrs. Diller and her family are long-time residents of the San Francisco Bay Area who are committed to the advancement of education, science and the arts.

“We had a couple of overarching goals—first, to create a truly unique, artisan playground and second, to help keep families living in and enjoying San Francisco”, said Jackie Safier, Helen Diller’s daughter.

On April 21, 2011 the Recreation and Parks Commission awarded Bauman Landscape & Construction the contract to renovate the playground in Mission Dolores Park. Construction workers will be on-site between May 23rd and June 1st installing a new temporary access driveway into the park just south of the intersection of Dolores and 19th Street for use by service vehicles while the main driveway is closed for the playground construction project. This construction activity will result in the installation of a temporary safety barricade immediately around the area of work.

Bauman Landscape Construction is expected to begin staging and performing pre-construction activities during the first week of June. Mobilization activities include the placement of the perimeter construction fencing and the project trailer. The playground, picnic tables and adjacent lawn areas within the designated Areas of Work will be officially closed to the public once the perimeter construction fence is installed and the playground site is handed off to the Contractor. The remainder of Mission Dolores Park will remain open and accessible to the public.

As a result of the playground renovation, 23 trees are scheduled to be removed, including five Gaudalupe Palms that are in poor health and possess structural defects. 48 new trees are to be planted including a mix of tree species of Guadeloupe Palm, Eastern Redbud, Blue Italian Cypress, Bronze Loquat, Black Tea Tree, Saucer Magnolia, Chinese Windmill Palm, and Mexican Fan Palm.

About Friends of Dolores Park Playground: A volunteer community organization that advocates for clean and safe playgrounds, specifically a world-class playground at Dolores Park. We also sponsor social, educational and advocacy events in support of this mission. www.friendsofdolorespark.org